RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies*

Case Studies

Case Study 1: Friday Night

It’s Friday night and you’ve invited some friends over for pizza, baked chicken wings, and a movie.
You’ve made a fiery mayo-based dip for the wings. You add frozen shrimp to the pizza. For a
healthy side dish, you prepare some veggies to go with the dip. They look clean, so, to save time,
you cut them up without washing them first.

Your friends leave late and you’re really tired. There are too many beverages in the fridge—no room
for the leftover pizza, chicken, or dip. You cover them with napkins for the night and decide to
leave clean-up for the morning.

The next morning you think to yourself, “cold pizza for breakfast.” And even though the wings
aren’t hot any more, they’ll taste great for breakfast with the leftover dip. Perfect!

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
           

Continued
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* Source: Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, 2008. Adapted with permission.
 RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies (Continued)

Case Study 2: Pot Luck

You are preparing your special chicken stew for a pot-luck after the basketball tournament. You are
running late and are trying to work quickly. Oh no—you forgot that you still need to make a
sandwich! You give the cutting board a quick wipe. There is still a little chicken on it, so you give it
a rinse. There, that’s better. You use the cutting board to cut bread, and prepare the sandwich in
record time. The chicken stew must be ready by now. You dip your spoon into the stew for a taste.
Yum! In goes the spoon again. Yup, it’s done. You turn the stove off and decide to leave the pot to
cool before putting it in the fridge (it should be cool enough by the time you get home later this
evening). While quickly wiping the counter, you notice the extra chicken you thawed still sitting on
the counter. You didn’t need it after all. That’s OK. You’ll just put it back in the freezer for the next
time.

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
           

           
 Continued
RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies (Continued)

Case Study 3: Saturday Night Chili

You are having friends over on Saturday night. You are in the middle of preparing your famous chili
when you realize the can of beans you were going to use is badly dented and bulging . . . that’s not
good. A second can of beans is dented, but not bulging, so you decide to use it instead. You are
adding tomatoes when, “Ouch—what a sting”! The juice has dripped into that nasty cut you got
yesterday. You’ll have to remember to get bandages. And now you are going to sneeze, but with
tomato juice on your hands, you don’t quite prevent yourself from sneezing on the chili . . . oops.

You planned to serve cheese and crackers before dinner. You notice the cheese has mould on it. No
problem—you scrape the sides of the cheese, slice it, and put it out for your friends.

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
           

Continued
 RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies (Continued)

Case Study 4: Feeling under the Weather

You work in the school cafeteria. You are normally very energetic, but you are feeling under the
weather as you get lunch prepared for the day. You begin to rummage through the fridge searching
for something to prepare, when “AAAHHH – CHOOO!” You manage to cover your nose with
your hand to prevent sneezing on the food in the fridge. You spot some ground beef. You’re not
sure when the manager took it out of the freezer—there’s no expiry date on it—maybe a couple of
days ago? Hmmm . . . or was it at the end of last week? You examine it. Looks fine, smells OK. So
you decide to use it. You take it out of the dripping plastic and use it to prepare dinner.

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
           

Continued
 RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies* (Continued)
(Answer Key)

Answers to Case Studies

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
You left food on the counter. Pizza, chicken, and dip should be refrigerated within two
hours of being cooked or prepared.
You did not wash the vegetables. Vegetables should be rinsed with cold water before serving
them.
You added frozen shrimp to the pizza. Shrimp should have been thawed in the fridge and then
added to the pizza.
You used napkins to cover leftover food. Leftover food should have been stored in an appropriate
storage container (e.g. cling wrap, freezer bag, air-tight
container) and refrigerated.

Case Study 2: Pot Luck

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
You used the cutting board after You should have used a different and clean cutting board and
preparing raw chicken on it. utensils to prepare the sandwich, or thoroughly washed and
sanitized the cutting board and utensils before using them to
make the sandwich.
You did not wash your hands before Always wash your hands after handling raw meat. It’s an even
making the sandwich. better idea to wash your hands after you have prepared one
food, before moving on to another.
You “double-dipped” your spoon into the Use a new spoon every time you taste food, or use a clean
stew when tasting it. spoon to put/pour the food onto your spoon.
You left the large pot of stew to cool on The pot was too large for the stew in the centre to cool (out
the counter. of the danger zone) quickly enough. You should either have
transferred the stew into a few smaller and shallower pans for
cooling in the fridge, or put the stew into individual portions,
and frozen them.
You thawed the chicken on the counter. All food should be thawed in the fridge.
You refroze the thawed chicken. Do not refreeze thawed meat or food. Either cook it and then
freeze the prepared item, or put it into the fridge and use it as
soon as possible. Or throw it out.

Continued

__________
* Source: Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, 2008. Adapted with permission.
 RM 11–NU: Food Safety Errors: Case Studies (Continued)
(Answer Key)

Case Study 3: Saturday Night Chili

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
You used the dented can. You used the dented (but not bulging) can. When you see a
dent, check the location.
The safest thing to do is to check all cans and avoid buying
dented cans. A dented can might be punctured, and bacteria
might have gotten in. If the dent is “sharp” or on a “seam,”
the can might be punctured as well. If the can is dented on
the “body,” it is probably OK to use. If you open a can and
the content spurts out, appears bubbly, or has a bad smell,
throw it out and do not taste it. If you dent the can after
purchasing it, use the product as soon as possible. If the can
becomes dented along a “seam,” empty the can into an
airtight container and use the product as soon as possible.
You handled food with an open cut on Never handle food with an open cut or wound. The cut should
your hand. be cleaned, as well as covered with a bandage and with a
rubber glove or a rubber cover for an individual finger. This is
done to prevent the cut and the bandage from getting wet
and dirty. It will help prevent the spread of germs from the
cut to the food and prevent bacteria from getting into the cut
(it could get infected).
You scraped the mould off the cheese If hard/firm cheese is mouldy, you need to cut 2.5 cm (1 inch)
and served it to your friends. from all sides of the cheese block. Don’t just scrape the mould
off, as it may have grown into the cheese. If mould has
spread all through a firm cheese, throw it away. If there is
mould on soft or fresh cheese, throw it away.

Case Study 4: Feeling under the Weather

What are your food safety errors? What should you have done instead?
You arrived at work sick. If you are sick, STAY AT HOME. You can pass what you have
to your clients and make them sick. If you have to go to work,
wear a facial mask and wash your hands frequently.
You sneezed into the refrigerator. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough,
especially when you are around food that may be eaten by
others. Sneeze into a facial tissue or your arm, and wash your
hands. Better yet, stay home when you’re not feeling well.
You used the ground beef, even though When in doubt, throw it out, especially when you are
you were unsure of when it was taken out responsible for your clients’ welfare.
of the freezer.
You smelled the ground beef, thought it Smelling food to detect contamination does not always work.
smelled OK, and used it. Not all contaminated foods smell bad.